Tag Archives: Snook

Well its the end of March and its now spring time here in Florida and that means the weather patterns are changing for the better! As the average temperatures rise into the 80’s so does the water temperature. This is wonderful news for guides and anglers alike not so much for the species we target as they seem to make many mistakes in taking well presented flies and lures.

The snook have been hiding out in the back country all winter, with the warmer water temperatures these fish are on the move, heading towards their summer spawning grounds. I have been finding them sunbathing in the afternoon and feeding voraciously at night around docks and bridge fenders. My go to fly for day time sightfishing has been either an olive Borski slider tied on a 1/0 gamakatsu hook or an EP baitfish pattern in olive and white. Once spotted present the fly delicately up current of the target and get its attention with small strips. After you have the snooks attention longer more abrupt strips have made the game fish come out of its shell to thrash the fly and don’t forget to stripset!

The redfish have also been found in the same areas as the snook and take the same fly patterns. I prefer to finger crawl a borksi slider or shrimp pattern on the bottom as these fish naturally feed off the bottom it makes it easier for that fish to trap your fly.

Migratory Tarpon should start making their way up the gulf coast towards Sarasota and Tampa Bay as the water temperatures approach 78-80 degrees in the gulf of mexico. You may also find juvenile tarpon in the evening and night hours around dock lights.

Tripletail are also making an appearance on the near by floating buoys and channel markers in the gulf and the bay.

It looks like we are in for another stellar spring and hopefully a strong tarpon season!

It is January 11th and I can actually say it is cold outside! Here in the Tampa Bay/Sarasota Bay area we have had a unusually warm Fall/Winter. Before this strong cold front had pushed through Florida we were fortunate to get on a solid snook bite in the day as well as night time!

Snook sensing the impending cold front started to eat anything that was put in front of them. Fishing deep cuts on mangrove shorelines with large profile baitfish patterns on a 40 pound flouro- carbon leader has worked well. In one day we landed over 25 snook ranging from 18-26 inches.

Pre- Cold Front Snook fishing has been outstanding!

Tampa Bay Snook caught while Fly fishing the back country.

The red fishing in Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay has also been a safe bet. Redfish recently have been on a feeding frenzy before/during/and even after the most recent cold fronts. Redfish are a very hardy fish that can handle cold water temperatures and extreme conditions.

The water clarity in Tampa Bay has been pristine, with gin clear water anglers have had to step down tippet size to entice the redfish into biting a fly. A 14 pound flouro-carbon bite section has been the recent go to in order to feed the wary redfish small baitfish, shrimp, and crab patterns.

A large Tampa Bay redfish sight fished on a micro shrimp fly!

Charlotte Harbor Redfish caught on a tan bendback fly.

The next few months should provide more opportunities to sight fish snook and redfish in the back country habitats of Tampa/ Sarasota/ and Charlotte Harbor.

When the Tarpon start thinning out on the beaches, redfish are the target of choice for fly anglers on the west coast of Florida. Late July all the way through October provides the opportunity to find large schools of redfish roaming the shallow grass flats. It is not uncommon to see 100 redfish pushing the flat while voraciously eating anything that gets in the way, that includes flies! If you are looking to catch your first redfish on fly this is the time and place to do just that. Not only are the fish hungry and dumb they are also not as pressured when fished in the evening hours (especially during a weekday). I typically like to couple a redfish charter with some night fishing and the chance to catch a Tampa Bay grand slam on fly (tarpon, redfish, trout, and snook)

A delicate presentation in front of a school of hungry moving redfish is a sight you will never forget! After the initial bite these redfish will tug the line and fight all the way back to the boat.

Some days are better than others and the school we just plucked a fish from will make its way back towards the boat for a second chance to catch another one.